"It's hard for me to put into words the personal transformation that I have undergone in such a short period of time. … I have developed skills that help me so much with my personal relationships with my family and very close friends." —Michelle Martin (graduate student)

"The online learning platform is intuitive and interactive. It is the best experience of distance learning I have participated in, mostly because the content is just so rich." —Justin Eisinga (graduate student)

"I’m so happy ... surprisingly happy to be studying again! IRPJ and St. Stephen's University made it easy for me to jump back in after 30 years away from textbooks and exams. I love the course content, the push to dig deeper in the reading material, and the challenge to write academically. I just wish I could clear my schedule so I could study all day!" —Evy Klassen (graduate student)

"The program is excellent! It has the flexibility for people like me living on the other side of the globe. … It simply is wonderful!" —Jonathan Soriano (graduate student)

"I am already gaining more confidence in moving forward into peace and justice work. The teachings from Andrew Klager and Brad Jersak along with the variety of course materials (from readings, videos, and exceptional guest lecturers) are establishing a firm foundation upon which to build a peacemaking lifestyle and vocation." —Deborah Coutts-Smith (graduate student)

"In this first half of the first semester, I have found it to intersect precisely with my personal interests, the need for this material in the church and world today, and the level of professional expertise and challenge I expect from a graduate level course. The two instructors bring a rich variety of knowledge and personal experience of the peacemaking process to the table, and the guest lecturers have been carefully chosen to enrich the experience." —Peter Bell (graduate student)

November 12, 2018

Ron Dart completes his series on Merton and Pasternak by challenging simplistic readings of Dr. Zhivago that either moralize or idealize, then explores a few blind spots in Merton's own interpretation of this epic tale.

November 10, 2018

The Space Between

“Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 23:24

Is evil the absence of good?

Is there such a thing as the absence of good?

The first question was one a friend asked me; the second question was my reply. The answer to the second seems to be necessary to truly answer the first.

Is there ever a time, a place, a circumstance where good—and I will replace goodwith God, because all that is good is of God—is not present? Scripture seems to say no. God is in Sheol—the grave (Psalm 139:8). He is in the dark and the storm (Psalm 97:2; Deuteronomy 4:11-12; 5:22). He is always, in all time (Revelation 1:8; Psalm 90). He is in all places (Proverbs 15:3; Jeremiah 23:24; John 1:3-5).

So, though I know our painful experiences and limited perspective may cause us to believe all good has vanished, I must believe that God is never absent. He is always present, no matter the circumstance. We’re never alone.

To the question of whether the absence of good is evil, I simply have to say, “No, I don’t think so.” Evil is something else. It’s a present thing, not an absence of something. If we think of evil as the absence of good, then we will despair. We’ll encounter days full of evil, and people with evil intent. If we believe their existence and presence in our lives means that good, and therefore God, has abandoned us, then where is our hope? We will feel utterly alone. We mustn’t forget God’s ultimate sovereignty, or we’ll be lost in our own darkness.

I wanted to express these odd thoughts about what evil isn’t and who God is, and it all tumbled out in an awkward poem. The question echoed in my mind as I wrote: Is God always, even in the dark?

Darkness.

Invisible but unmistakable.

The space between is all there is of what is not.

What proof of nothingness is that? It is not proof at all. It is just room. A breath.

Word and then word with wind betwixt is what there is. There is no not, only space to wait.

And then another word comes on. The verse flows out and over, in and through.

It sings and soars and roars through thunder, water, and in storm.

The breaks are soft, gentle, low, and fine.

Undetectable but undeniable.

Divine.

It is darkness, after all, that holds the stars.

My soul declares there is no absence of God, and he is always present in every moment and circumstance, in every black night and empty space. So why, my friend, should we fear the dark? This fallen world and our sin-struck lives are the not the whole story; they are not the big picture.

Look into the dark today. See his hand. Listen for his voice. Lean into his embrace.

Reader: How might you respond to a feminist critique of the incarnation that says that if God is endlessly incarnate in the person of Jesus then this means God is male? Is this inherently patriarchal?

Response: Who did Jesus get the flesh from? Part of the contemporary problem is in not recognizing the profound role of Mary in our redemption.

The only way for both sexes to be involved in the incarnation was for a woman to bear and give birth to a man.

That Jesus is an incarnate male is not enough and was never the point, the point is that Jesus took on the ONE HUMAN NATURE that all humans share in the good creation, male and female.

Jesus is the Son of God but Jesus is also the son of Mary. This mystery needs far greater contemplative attention for the Christian account of love to be credible.

It is not the maleness of Jesus that saves us but his bearing the one human nature all humans share, and he bears that nature because of Mary’s blessed yes to the trinitarian invitation that Mary participate with her son in the redemption of the cosmos.

Revelation 12’s wondrous account of the incarnation paints Mary very much into the eternal and cosmic picture of salvation. Why do we ignore its grand beauty?

People who make Christ’s maleness exclusive of female human nature—in the church, in the home, and in the world—do not understand that humanity is made in the image of God as male *and* female. We are never going this alone without each other.

Both sexes participate with God in the reconciliation of humanity by the flesh of Mary and by the flesh of Jesus, who in their unique persons by the Spirit overturn the alienation of Adam and Eve and of us all from the life of God, for his existence without end.

By the way, this is all addressed very early in Christian thought...in Irenaeus, for instance. My account here is not a response or reaction to contemporary feminism.

Christianity is in all of these beautiful senses feminist and has always been.

PS: This is not to say that all of the roles they play in and toward each other: daughter, mother, bride, sister, and son, brother, bridegroom, and so on, are not an example of sanctity to us in the ways we are also all of these things to each other.

November 09, 2018

Editor's Note: to join Christina or Steve Stewart on an Impact Journey, or to contribute to meeting frontline needs, visit http://www.impactnations.com.

Report on Kenya Journeys, Women and General

After more than 60 Journeys, it is sometimes a challenge to write something original. This is not one of those times. In 22 days, ten with the women’s Journey and 12 with the full Journey we saw a wider scope of measurable results than I can ever recall. In order to keep these measurable clear, I will attempt to keep this report as brief as I can. Perhaps in another report I will be more anecdotal, since there are many individual stories to be told.

Women’s Journey As Reported By Christina

This multi-national team of 12 women kept an extremely busy schedule which witnessed the following results (recognizing that many results we don’t actually see at the time)––

20 women and 7 children were freed from prison. The team provided $80 for each woman (including her children) as startup money. Without this, the prison won’t release the women, since they would be too vulnerable. They all now have safe lodging and are being trained in business skills.

The team ministered in the women's prison, supplemented their food for the day and saw the new water pump Impact Nations had installed after last year's visit. The next day 121 of the women in the prison requested baptism, including some guards.

Christina preached to a large group of prostituted women from the Nakuru streets. 84 gave their lives to Christ that night. 78 are now off the streets and living in safe housing where they are receiving spiritual and emotional healing. Soon they will begin business training; when they have completed this plus an apprenticeship, they will receive a start-up business loan.

During the various outreaches, well over 1,500 came to Christ. 1,300 of them have now been followed up (those with cell phones).

1,012 attended the three day women’s conference. This included many pastors and bishops and 19 Masai, who walked 15km then traveled hours by bus to attend. Each woman is given a certificate for attending. We learned that some women from last year's conference were able to obtain government identification for the first time in their lives, due to the official seal stamped on this certificate.

At Jomec, a recovery facility for those dealing with alcohol and drug addiction, 54 came to Christ including 4 staff members and are now being discipled.

After one of the outdoor meetings, 18 gay men came to Mike and asked how to receive Christ and how to get free from their lifestyle. In all his years of ministry, Mike has never had this before. Each of them is now being discipled.

The team visited and prayed at the city dump, 2 schools, a recent disaster site and a rural village. As always, gifts of school supplies and sports equipment were given. Some of Mike's team followed up by painting the principal's offices at two schools.

Full Journey of Compassion

In just one of the cities that we visited, a group of 340 new believers attended the first meeting for following up on new believers.

90 water filters were distributed, both in urban slums and in rural communities providing clean water to schools and homes.

8,000 food packages were distributed to hungry families.

During each medical clinics, all the people were fed.

Over 1,000 people received medical attention at five clinics. Mosquito nets were also distributed.

Hundreds of pastors were taught and ministered to over 3 days by Steve and Randeep

We went to the Naivasha men’s maximum security prison:

The Gospel was preached

24 men were baptized by Mike and Christina. A woman baptizing was a first for a Kenyan men’s prison, but Mike insisted, recognizing that it was an important part of their healing

After we left, 400 other prisoners asked to be baptized which the prison chaplain did, along with his team

7,000 prisoners received extra rations; all the guards received a soda (this seemingly small gesture was very significant to them, as they are always totally ignored)

Anti-parasite tablets were distributed to 10,000 students

The impact of our Journey was huge. We were featured on national television news a number of times on different stations, and Christina and Steve were both reported in several national papers.

Christina and the team met with the Speaker of the House and Majority Leader of Nakuru County, as well as the federal minister of health. Christina received a phone call from the First Lady of Kenya, thanking her for all that Impact Nations has done for the nation.

The doors for ministry in Kenya continue to open wider and wider. What the Lord has done around and through us far surpasses what I ever thought would happen. It would be impossible to over-state the favor that we have in this nation.